Obligation to the Past

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On the Trail of History with the Future in Mind

Nuremberg – the city of the Nazi Party Rallies, the city of the race laws, the city in which trials against those responsible for the crimes of the Nazi regime took place. How does Nuremberg address this past? How does the city encourage guests to learn about this part of its history? How does one present the traces of this history in a responsible way, without creating sensationalist headlines?

Working under the guiding principle “An Obligation to the Past”, the city of Nuremberg has taken up this task for many decades and has answered its past and future by proclaiming itself the "City of Peace and Human Rights".

Learning lessons from megalomania

The National Socialists discovered Nuremberg early and claimed the city for their national Nazi Party Rallies in 1933. The city which was so important in the first German empire (from 800 to 1806) was intended to become a symbol of eternal glory for the Third Reich.

Monstrous plans were drawn up for the Nazi Party Rally Grounds; World War II put an end to this architectural megalomania. The Documentation Centre Former Nazi Party Rally Grounds in the Congress Hall shows the effects of the regime on the city of Nuremberg and its citizens. In the Nuremberg Palace of Justice, site of the Nuremberg Trials, the Memorium Nuremberg Trials museum keeps the events which took place in Courtroom 600 alive.

Obligation to the past Important Places

Nazy Party Rally Grounds

Documentation Center

Memorium Nuremberg Trials

The City of Human Rights

The beginning point for a tour of the new Nuremberg, the “City of Peace and Human Rights”, should be “The Way of Human Rights” at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum. This public artwork provided the initial spark for a whole series of activities large and small: The Nuremberg Human Rights Prize, the colorful Way of Children’s Rights in the city park and the Nuremberg Human Rights Film Festival.

City of Human Rights Places&Events

The Way of Human Rights

The Way of Human Rights is entered through a stylized triumphal arch from the Kornmarkt and lined by 27, 8-meter-high concrete pillars.